In December 2010, the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) jointly organized a full-day Standards Workshop at IEEE International Energy Conference & Exhibition in Manama, Bahrain to support the activities of IEEE Region 8 and the International community at large. The event was sponsored by IEEE Region 8 as well as the IEEE Saudi Arabia Section with technical support from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals and IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS).
EnergyCon 2010 was designed to focus on innovative and sustainable ways to address global energy issues, a topic of great value to IEEE and the IEEE SA communities. Our workshop supported conference goals by featuring 14 unique speakers from around the globe, who focused on open idea exchange and the honest discussion of challenges as well as solutions. Workshop attendees and panelists included approximately 70 participants from Europe, the US, the Middle East, and South Asia.
IEEE SA President, Chuck Adams delivered one of the two keynote speeches that opened the workshop, along with a senior representative from SASO (Saudi Arabia Standards Organization). Other IEEE speakers included Wael Diab, Jennie Steinhagen, Moira Patterson, Mark Halpin, Wei‐Jen Lee, Mark Adamiak, Bill Lawrence, and James Bowen. All acknowledged the global opportunities for collaboration and highlighted IEEE SA accomplishments in community building and technical exploration in the areas of green technology and Smart Grid. Five other presentation/panel speakers from the Bahrain/Saudi Arabia area also participated in the workshop, representing the needs of their industries and regions.
By participating in EnergyCon, IEEE fostered a greater awareness of the IEEE SA as a global standards development facilitator, and opened up a new dialog on the topic of standards collaboration in Region 8, especially the Middle East. The workshop also provided the IEEE SA with a better understanding of the needs present worldwide and within the Region.
We look forward to future events and opportunities in Region 8. The next EnergyCon will be held in 2012 in Florence, Italy. For more information, please contact Moira Patterson.
